12-8-2016

News

The Pitt News

FACULTY PETITION FOR SANCTUARY CAMPUS

Editor-in-Chief ELIZABETH LEPRO editor@pittnews.com

Lauren Rosenblatt, Alexa Baka- undocumented immigrants. PublicSource reported on Nov. 29 that Pittsburgh City larski, Amanda Reed Pitt News Staff

With a new petition, Pitt professors are asking the administration to proactively protect undocumented students.

Assistant English professor Peter Campbell and English professor Sarah Leavens spearheaded the effort and worked collaboratively with seven other professors on the petition, which urges Pitt Chancellor Patrick Gallagher and Provost Patricia Beeson to declare Pitt a sanctuary campus. As a sanctuary campus, Pitt would not cooperate with immigration enforcement or deportation actions directed at Pitt students and faculty.

A day after the petition went up as a Google Forms doc on Dec. 6, more than 379 Pitt students, alumni and faculty had signed. Leavens said the petition came about because the professors involved had seen and heard threats — referring to Donald Trump’s promises to deport undocumented immigrants — that put members of Pitt’s community in danger.

“Colleges are supposed to be welcoming and encouraging places, and those statements and actions that have happened here have directly put our students at risk,” Leavens said.

According to the Center for Immigration Studies, Pittsburgh and other cities in California, Connecticut, New Mexico and Colorado are some of the 300 “sanctuary” jurisdictions across the United States. Sanctuary cities typically do not prosecute people solely for being an illegal immigrant in the city which the person is currently living and refuse to enforce national immigration laws, though practices vary across cities.

While Pittsburgh has acted as a sanctuary city since 2014, it has not yet formally passed any laws to ensure protections for

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Council members have a policy in the works.

Protests related to immigration and calls or sanctuary campuses and cities across the country have sparked in response to President-elect Donald Trump’s 10-point immigration plan. The plan includes cutting federal funding to sanctuary cities as well as deporting undocumented immigrants who have committed crimes and building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Monday’s petition asks Pitt to revise its non-discrimination policy to include immigration status as a protected category, to have Pitt police not inquire about a student’s immigration status, and to create a program for students who have issues with visa status, among other requests.

Pitt spokesperson Joe Miksch said Pitt is aware of the petition effort, but would note offer more information on the matter.

Pitt students previously asked Chancellor Gallagher to declare Pitt a sanctuary campus on Nov. 16, as part of a nationally organized campaign — National Walk-Outs for #SanctuaryCampus. At that demonstration, between 50 and 60 Pitt students gathered in front of the Cathedral of Learning and gave Vice Chancellor Kathy Humphrey a letter asking to make Pitt a safe space for undocumented students.

According to Miksch, Gallagher responded with a private letter to students, instructing them to set up a meeting with Dean of Students Kenyon Bonner.

Since the letter was private, many professors and students have not heard Gallagher’s response. The petition, therefore, questions why they have not yet heard a response.

“To the best of our knowledge the Chancellor’s office has yet to respond to the November letter and the walkout, and so that

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Emily Brindley | Assistant News Editor Alexandria Stryker | Assistant Copy Alexa Bakalarski | Assistant News Editor Copy Staff Matt Moret | Assistant Opinions Editor Amanda Sobczak Mia DiFelice Ashwini Sivaganesh | Assistant Sports Editor Bridget Montgomery Michelle Reagle Jordan Mondell | Assistant Visual Editor Corey Foreman Rielly Galvin Emily Hower | Assistant Layout Editor Katie Krater Sarah Choflet Amanda Reed | Online Engagement Editor Matthew Maelli Sydney Mengel

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See Sanctuary on page 3

December 8, 2016

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Sanctuary, pg. 2 was kind of really the inspiration for us faculty putting this letter together,” Campbell said.

Based on the lack of response, the petition states those who sign “cannot have confidence in our shared institutional commitments to inclusion, integrity, freedom of expression and diversity, without, at minimum, concrete policy statements from the University of Pittsburgh in support of ‘immigrants who study, live and work in and around our University,’” Since Trump became president-elect on Nov. 8, students at dozens of universities across the United States have asked university administrations to establish their universities as sanctuary campuses.

Wesleyan University’s student newspaper, the Wesleyan Argus, reported on Nov. 20, Wesleyan University President Michael Roth declared the university a sanctuary campus after consulting with the university’s Board of Trustees and legal counsel.

The Los Angeles Times reported California State University Chancellor Timothy P. White reaffirmed on Nov. 16 the university would remain a “safe and welcoming”

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community for undocumented students at the university.

Even without the designation as a sanctuary campus, Juan Sempértegui, a junior from Ecuador, said he feels comfortable on Pitt’s campus. Sempértegui, who is not an undocumented immigrant and is in the United States on a scholarship from the Ecuador government, said Gallagher’s email after the election made him feel better about his place on campus as an immigrant in general. Although he does not have any fears for himself, he said he worries about other foreigners on campus and how safe they might feel.

In his time at Pitt, he said he has felt as if Pitt treats him the same as every other student. Yet, if the administration did not declare Pitt a sanctuary campus, he would feel like he was here less because of what he could contribute to the community and the University and more for the money he was giving.

“We come here and we leave everything,” Sempértegui said. “I haven’t seen my parents in a year and a half. I would feel kind of alone.”

The petition asks Pitt to enact policies in which the University will not cooperate

with any deportation or other immigration enforcement directed against Pitt students unless required by a warrant or other valid legal process. The petition specifically lists: • Pitt police officers will not cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection or U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services with immigration enforcement actions • Pitt police and campus security cannot inquire about an individual’s immigration status • Pitt will not allow ICE, CPB or USCIS officials on Pitt property or campuses • Pitt will not share information on any Pitt student or employee’s immigration status ICE, CPB, USCIS or other law enforcement agencies • Pitt will stop any use of E-Verify — an internet-based system used to confirm if someone is authorized to work in the United States — in student applications and employee hiring procedures • Pitt’s Deans of Students Offices will coordinate “a specific and transparent program” to assist Deferred

December 8, 2016

Action for Childhood Arrivals students and other students who are not U.S. citizens with issues related to visa status, financial aid, housing, immigration or other relevant concerns • Pitt will revise its non-discrimination policy and other related policy statements to include immigration status as a protected category “Our University motto is Veritas et Virtus. Fidelity to these values requires that we not simply declare our campuses safe and welcoming spaces for all people,” the letter reads at its end. “We must realize the truth of these statements through concrete action. By establishing ourselves as a sanctuary University, we can take a significant step toward the realization of these commitments as facts in the life of the University of Pittsburgh.”

The petition, Campbell said, is less about the phrase “sanctuary campus” and more about making sure Pitt announces its “willingness to work on behalf of all members of this community.”

“If Pitt is unwilling to use the word ‘sanctuary,’ they should respond to the specific calls from the letter,” Campbell said.

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Opinions

from the editorial board Find our editorial today at pittnews.com

column

PRACTICING JOURNALISM REQUIRES MORE THAN A PLATFORM

Matt Moret

Opinions Editor This is my last week as an editor for The Pitt News opinions section.

I’ve spent all of it thinking about thinkpieces. Since my first year at Pitt, I’ve been writing or editing commentary, both at this paper and for other campus publications. And though I can say these experiences have changed my life both personally and professionally, I could not be less satisfied with the media corner I occupy.

My dissatisfaction comes from a growing frustration with how we, as columnists and readers, categorize opinions writing. When done well and with deep attention to detail, political and cultural criticism can be insightful and gripping. But in many hands, it’s not — it’s a platform for substanceless agenda-pushing.

Just look at any article arguing that electors should reject Donald Trump or the pieces claiming DNC chairperson candidate Keith Ellison is actually an anti-Semite. This stuff isn’t journalism, it’s compensated raving.

To this day, I cringe a bit when people describe all of my writing as journalism. This internal conflict over semantics was rooted in a belief that “journalism” is purely an informational service. In my mind, my role in opinions writing ran parallel to those efforts because I had the ulterior motive of persuasion. I still believe that’s the case, but my time editing columns has made it even clearer that the “journalist” label isn’t one you can simply stick in a Twitter bio or toss out when relatives wonder about your career plans.

Journalists have to earn the rank, yet we roll them all into a single category based on the institutions they occupy rather than the content they create. There must be a change in how commentators do their jobs, and it starts with recognizing that their writing is not above the standards other writing must meet in order to be valuable.

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“Journalist” is different from jobs like “carpenter” or “lawyer.” These labels accurately describe a person regardless of how they apply their skills. You could build a house or you could build a set of creaky cabinets — you’re still a carpenter because you work with wood.

You could defend victims of discrimination or defend corporations that poison entire communities — you’re still a lawyer because you practice law.

But if you write articles without any regard for verifiable facts or, worse, write around and brush aside inconvenient facts, you are not a journalist. You’re not just a “bad journalist,” you’re completely ignoring journalistic ethics.

You’re just another writer on the internet. The distinction may seem arbitrary, but it’s a core conflict behind our fake news crisis.

There’s a list of questions every reporter has to answer if they have any hope of producing a good article: Why are you writing this? How could reading this article benefit someone? Is the information you’ve included actually representative of the larger issue you’re highlighting?

The same questions and potential pitfalls apply to commentary, but the cover of an “Opinions” label makes posing a thesis seem like a job well-done. That’s only the first step.

We need to establish what impact these ideas have on readers, and simply shouting perspectives accomplishes nothing. It doesn’t matter which side of the political spectrum the article appeals to — thinkpieces are simply too obsessed with their thesis statements at the expense of more thoroughly establishing their conclusions.

A quick look at commentary-driven outlets like Daily Caller or Daily Kos brings this out immediately. The lead column on Daily Caller yesterday carried the headline, “The Popular Vote Is A Hoax” and argued that using a popular vote electoral model wouldn’t actually reflect popular opinion.

The problem with the article and others

like it isn’t just that the argument makes little to no sense, it’s that there’s no evidence to back

u p its conclusions or a sign of what to do with those pseudo-insights. The logical flow leading the writer to his conclusion seems to have appeared out of nowhere, and there’s no way to translate them into real action beyond copying it for watercooler conversation.

Fake news and its creators capitalize on the public’s inability to separate actual information from biased observations about information that may or may not be real. With the past decade’s blogging boom and the eventual incorporation of that style into traditional media, redundant opining about literally anything is a business model.

We need to care more about why we are saying things than the fact we can say them. We need to care about incorporating data tools and links that flesh out our own perspectives to give readers a deeper view of the world. Right now, we’re too worried about our ledes.

December 8, 2016

Raka Sarkar STAFF ILLUSTRATOR “Everyone has a right to their opinion,” defenders of hollow claims might argue. That’s still a true statement in the sense that people are able to think whatever they want. Still, the bar must rise when considering the value of jettisoning opinions into the ether. Value should come down to whether those thoughts make any sense in light of the information available, and if there’s no evidence to examine, the commentary has no foundation. If there’s no takeaway, the commentary has no function.

It’s OK to say that speech has a right to exist while also saying it’s largely worthless. We have enough nebulous ideas floating around. We may never care exclusively about facts, but we can at least ensure our complaints come packaged with real reasons to agree.

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December 8, 2016

5

Culture

virtual reality

GOING VIRTUAL

Brady Langmann Culture Editor

Michael Arenth reached for his goggles, strapped them to his head with a rubber band and embarked on a trip 6,000 miles away.

He sat in the back of a bumpy brown canoe and watched the bony arms of a 9-year-old refugee paddle across a swamp, enveloped by the emerald-colored fields of South Sudan.

With clouds looming overhead and birds chirping around them, the two escaped from fighters who invaded the boy’s village in “The Displaced,” the New York Times’ online virtual reality experience that profiled victims of the refugee crisis.

“To me, that was when...a broader audience and a different application for [virtual reality] became more mainstream,” Arenth said of his visual adventure. “And I think that’s when I felt like, ‘Boy, we need to be sure we’re on top of this.’”

Arenth got Google Cardboard with his Sunday New York Times subscription in November, 2015. The device is a $15 virtual reality headset made of cardboard and a 45mm lens, with a slot to put a smartphone capable of streaming 360 video. He, and more than 5 million others who have purchased Google’s headset since then, saw virtual reality as a marvel, not a gimmick. After virtually visiting Ukraine, South Sudan and Lebanon in “The Displaced,” Arenth finally understood how the technology could have applications past roller coaster simulators and horror games.

As the director of classroom and media services for Pitt’s University Center for Teaching and Learning, Arenth thought about how he could implement virtual reality in classrooms on campus — an anthropology course visiting ancient ruins, a chemistry class viewing 3-D models of a compound’s molecular structure, geology students surveying a disaster site. Following his work since then, he says that students are only 18 months away from seeing a virtual reality component on a syllabus.

“We are excited about the possibilities that we haven’t even thought of yet,” Arenth said.

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Arenth isn’t the only one who’s seen capabilities for virtual reality technology outside of entertainment. Doctors are using headsets to view 3-D models of their patients’ organs, engineers are building games to make life easier for people with disabilities and educational organizations are thinking of ways to bring immersive experiences into the classroom — and all of that work seems to be converging in Pittsburgh.

At Pitt, several faculty members and researchers see virtual reality’s potential to change everything from how professors teach their students to how surgeons prepare for the operating table. But the industry, poised to make huge leaps in the next five years, may not take hold in Pittsburgh unless Pitt researchers can convince investors that their projects are worth it.

According to Lorin Grieve, a professor who teaches in Pitt’s School of Information Sciences and the pharmacy school, it takes tons of time and money to create quality virtual reality experiences.

Most commercially available virtual reality headsets are expensive, from the $599 Oculus Rift to the $799 HTC Vive, plus making games means hiring entire development teams to spend months, even years, building something that can go to market. And even if investors were willing to pour cash into efforts with the technology, there’s no science to prove that virtual immersion helps students learn better.

“A lot of people who aren’t interested in VR — a lot of people who are maybe older, more traditional in their outlook are saying, ‘Well, show me that it works,’” Grieve said. “And we just haven’t been able to do that yet.”

Surgeries, spaceships and subways In the basement of Pitt’s Information Sciences Building, Grieve works with information sciences professor Dmitriy Babichenko on various virtual and augmented reality projects.

The walls are blank and there’s a stray cofSee Virtual Reality on page 7

see the video online at pittnews.com

Top: CAREN is a 3-D simulation environment that helps people with disabilities get accustomed to a new wheelchair or prosthetic limb.

Bottom: Shawn Jackson, a senior computer science major, works as a student employee at the Teaching Center.

Elaina Zachos VISUAL EDITOR

December 8, 2016

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Virtual Reality, pg. 6 fee mug for every gadget in the room — from a 3-D printer buzzing in the corner to two computer monitors on the far end. Babichenko is discussing the future of virtual reality when Grieve leans over and asks why most people buy Blurays instead of HD DVDs. “Because the porn industry took up Blu-ray and not HD DVD,” Grieve said. “Historically, the porn industry has a very heavy say in what works commercially, as far as products are concerned.”

It’s a joke, but not really. According to a Business Insider article published in August, the total revenue from virtual and augmented reality — lately catchall terms for anything that creates a panoramic, realistic environment, from 360 video to wearing sensor-rigged accessories like helmets or gloves — is projected to increase from $5.2 billion in 2016 to more than over $163 billion in 2020, making it one of the fastest-growing entertainment products.

This covers pornography as well as gaming — PlayStation’s virtual reality headset has slowly added games since it released Oct. 13. Virtual reality has cropped up in television, too — NBC partnered with AltspaceVR to stream the second presidential debate in virtual reality, while the NBA plans to start broadcasting a game a week in 360 video. The New York Times still produces virtual reality experiences, and the technology has even made its way into health care.

This past January, doctors at a Miami hospital saved a baby’s life after consulting Pitt’s David Ezon, who used an app called Sketchfab to view the patient’s heart in 3-D. Take the project Babichenko is working on.

Through EngagePitt, the University’s crowdfunding platform, Babichenko raised $5,842 over the summer for ScopingSim, a virtual reality game that would allow nurses to practice performing endoscopies, colonoscopies and bronchoscopies, procedures to look into a patient’s digestive tract, large intestine and throat, respectively.

Instead of practicing on a mannequin model, which can cost anywhere from $3,000 to

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$50,000, students would practice the procedures using endoscope models with built-in sensors that would buzz or ring when someone makes a mistake — much like a high-tech game of “Operation.”

“They actually have to learn how to navigate airways,” Babichenko said. “You have a subway tunnel or corridors on an alien’s ship. And you’re being chased by an alien, or chasing an alien and you have to move the scope quickly, but precisely to escape or catch [it] in first-person shooter view.”

Next semester, Babichenko will teach a special topics course in programming and game design where students will have the chance to work on ScopingSim for credit — a way around the estimated $200,000 price tag ScopingSim would take to make in its entirety, development team and all. The funds raised through EngagePitt will pay for equipment, including development kits for the virtual reality headsets, as well as materials to build the scoping sensors.

But Grieve, when talking separately about virtual reality’s potential educational role, noted another possibility: Virtual reality helps a classroom in a way a traditional lecture style could not — engaging students by streaming a drone’s view of Chernobyl, for instance, instead of reading about the nuclear disaster in a book — but the necessary resources may be more expensive than practical.

“It’s the kind of thing where we have to look

and say, ‘Is it worth it?’” Grieve said.

Meet CAREN About three miles east of Oakland in Bakery Square, CAREN wakes up. She steals whatever power nearby Google Pittsburgh isn’t using, then begins whirring, roaring, illuminating.

After a few minutes, she quiets into a low hum. She’s ready.

Computer Assisted Rehabilitation Environment — CAREN — is a 3-D simulation owned

by Pitt and the Veteran Affairs’ Human Engineering Research Laboratories, or HERL. CAREN is set up about six feet off the ground. Users stand on a platform that looks like a concert stage, only in front of a large projection screen, a hydraulic lift and two treadmill pumps on top.

It’s used by HERL — a facility dedicated to improving the quality of life for people with disabilities – to study the gait of people who use prosthetics and to analyze how wheelchair users operate and propel in different environments.

HERL does this by projecting virtual reality experiences on the screen — like a speedboat racing simulation — to help users with disabilities get accustomed to a new wheelchair or prosthetic limb.

According to Deepan Kamaraj, a research associate who works primarily on HERL’s virtual reality projects, the few wheelchair users who are lucky enough to try CAREN want to know when they can take something like the simulator home.

December 8, 2016

“That’s what we’re trying to address by using virtual reality,” Kamaraj said. “How much of the training that we would like to do — can it be started in the hospital and continued over time? So you’re not only giving prolonged support, now you’re providing support in their home, where they would eventually want to be functional.”

The first prototype of CAREN — one of only a handful of its kind in the country — was created by Netherlands’ Motek Entertainment in 1998. The simulator costs up to $1.5 million, so in-home support is a long way off. But HERL’s work with CAREN isn’t its only ongoing project.

On one side of HERL’s wheelchair testing space — which looks more YMCA than laboratory, with a basketball hoop, kitchen and a small weight room — is a propulsion runway and wheelchairs rigged with motion capture sensors.

The sensors are similar to what Hollywood visual effects artists use to allow an actor like Mark Ruffalo to perform as the Hulk, importing his movements and facial expressions to map onto the computer-generated green monster.

But instead of making superhero movie magic, Kamaraj is developing a virtual reality game that would help new wheelchair users learn to avoid obstacles and maneuver crowded environments. By putting motion capture sensors on wheelchairs and the people driving them, See Virtual Reality on page 8

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Virtual Reality, pg. 7

At other schools, students already are putting it to use. Boise State University students used Oculus Rift headsets to learn catheter insertion procedures and engineers from Penn State University assembled virtual pieces of a coffeemaker more efficiently using an Oculus Rift than a desktop computer program.

The New Media Consortium, an association of more than over 250 colleges, museums and corporations across the world dedicated to finding new technologies, listed both of these programs in its 2016 Horizon report under “Important Developments in Educational Technology for Higher Education.”

“Early pilot findings indicate positive impacts on the classroom, including enhanced group dynamics and peer-to-peer learning,” the report reads, citing several case studies that showed the benefits of virtual reality in learning.

Maybe Pitt’s Teaching Center will make the 2017 report, as it’s now imagining an immersion therapy experience for public speaking, where a student would practice speaking to an auditorium full of actors from the theatre arts program.

The center has also spoken with the studio arts department about creating art in a virtual world, then printing it out on a 3-D printer.

“We invest some time, which is people, resources and some dollars into acquiring some cameras, because we have to be on the edge a little bit,” said Golden, director of the center.

In addition to its own early investigation into

the technology, the center has kept its eye on its neighbors, CMU and Facebook-owned Oculus, the latter of which opened a research office in Oakland earlier this year. The center has met with CMU technology experts and says it’s open to collaboration opportunities with Oculus once it gets settled on campus.

CMU is home to Jesse Schell, a professor whose nationally known game design company, Schell Games, just released “I Expect You To Die,” a virtual reality puzzle experience where the user plays as a spy trying to escape a mysterious room.

Though we might not be living in the cliched 21st century sci-fi movie we once envisioned, faraway worlds, from war-torn Sudan to a failing human heart, can now be explored through the lens of a $15 piece of cardboard. But modern miracles don’t mean much if they’re kept in labs and tech conventions. Virtual reality is almost in the classroom, but for now, students are still bound to L-shaped desks, staring at sketches of the human anatomy, viewing Renaissance art on Powerpoint slides and watching red-faced classmates give their first presentations.

“Our world has changed, technology has changed and we’ll probably have to start looking at how we’re teaching students in a way that works for students who are already born in the 21st century,” Koleck said. “So investing in something that could fail is a lot of times worth the risk.”

The Pitt news crossword 12/8/16

Kamaraj can figure out if someone is moving the chair at the right angle and speeds — both factors that, if done wrong, could lead to someone tearing a muscle, or breaking a wheel on a curb.

Kamaraj is working to make the game compatible with the Oculus Rift, which is on the higher end of headsets in both quality and price, so he can build realistic virtual models of the chairs. This might help new users improve the efficiency and safety of their driving in a virtual space before moving to the real thing — before they even leave the hospital.

“So if you have an Oculus-based game, maybe they’re not completely in a situation that they can get into a chair and start being mobile and move around,” he said. “But if you provide them an opportunity to get training way before they do that, they get better accustomed to mobility once they’re out of the hospital.”

He added that the inflation of health care costs makes a cheap, in-home rehabilitation option almost necessary — if someone has a stroke and can’t walk, for instance, the person doesn’t have to spend time and money in a hospital going to therapy every day.

“The insurance reimbursement policies, they’re shrinking the time more and more,” he said. “So post-stroke, about 10 years, maybe 25 years ago, you could be in the hospital for any-

where from three to six months, you would get continued physical therapy and [occupational] therapy care. But now, you get three weeks at the max. And then they’re like, ‘Well, you gotta go, that’s it.’”

Egypt, Rome, Mexico and Beyond If Egyptian pyramids ever closed to the public for preservation, 20-foot-tall pharaohs could dwarf every student inside a $15 headset.

You could recreate just about any lost artifact — visit the Colosseum before earthquake damage, feel the true scale of the Mayan Empire, even take a tour of Forbes Field and watch Sweetness run the bases one last time.

Arenth, Meagan Koleck and Cynthia Golden from Pitt’s Teaching Center could go on for days.

They’ve followed along with developments in the virtual reality industry in hopes that Pitt will be ready if the technology finds commercial success.

With the funds Pitt allots the center to invest in emerging technology, Arenth and company bought an Oculus Rift, as well as sent Koleck, a media specialist for the center, to conventions like October’s WEIRD REALITY symposium at Carnegie Mellon University, which featured several virtual reality projects.

The goal is to learn if immersion actually helps students learn better than a textbook or traditional lecture, then Pitt would know if students could benefit from owning something like a Google Cardboard.

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December 8, 2016

8

Sports

MENʼS BASKETBALL

Buffalo 79 Pitt 84

football

SCOUTING NORTHWESTERN: WILDCATS MORE DANGEROUS THAN THEY APPEAR Steve Rotstein Sports Editor

Don’t let the Northwestern football team’s 6-6 record fool you.

Although the Wildcats needed a win over Illinois in their regular season finale just to become bowl eligible, Northwestern is a balanced and dangerous team possessing all the tools necessary to deny Pat Narduzzi his first bowl game victory as Pitt’s head coach.

With the Panthers (8-4) and Wildcats set for a showdown at Yankee Stadium in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl at 2 p.m. Dec. 28, here’s what to look out for if Pitt wants to claim that ninth win to end the season.

May the best Pat win There are a lot of similarities between Narduzzi and Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald, and it goes well beyond their first names.

Both were linebackers during their playing days, and both bring that fiery passion and intensity to the sidelines with them in every game they coach.

Narduzzi played a year under his father, Bill, at Youngstown State in 1985 before transferring to Rhode Island and starting at linebacker for three years from 1987 to 1989. Fitzgerald, meanwhile, was a star linebacker for the same Wildcats program he coaches now.

Fitzgerald led Northwestern to back-to-back Big Ten titles in 1995 and 1996, becoming the first

two-time recipient of the Nagurski and Bednarik Awards as college football’s top defensive player and leading to his 2008 induction into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Narduzzi admitted at the Pinstripe Bowl press conference that he looks up to Fitzgerald in many ways, and even reached out to him for advice when he first became a head coach before the start of last season.

Now, after admiring Fitzgerald and the program he has built at Northwestern, Narduzzi will face the challenge of trying to beat him.

Balanced backfield The Wildcats will bring a balanced attack to the matchup on offense, with the ability to beat teams either on the ground or through the air.

Northwestern quarterback Clayton Thorson is a 6-foot-4, 220-pound gunslinger, who threw for 2,968 yards and 21 touchdowns with only eight interceptions on the year. Meanwhile, Wildcats running back Justin Jackson has tallied over 1,000 yards rushing in each of his three seasons at Northwestern. This year, the speedy back ran for 1,300 yards and a career-high 12 touchdowns.

Pitt’s stingy run defense ranks ninth in the country out of 128 FBS teams with only 108.9 yards allowed per game, and has made offenses one-dimensional all season. But teams have had no problem throwing the ball against the Panthers when the running game doesn’t work out.

See Northwestern on page 10

basketball

PANTHERS SLIDE

BY BULLS, 84-79 Steve Rotstein

to start the game we played very, very well,” Pitt head coach Kevin Stallings said.

“It’s nice on a night where probably neither The Pitt men’s basketball team appeared Mike nor Jamel had their best game, that to be headed for a much-needed blowout we had four other guys step up and score win over the underwhelming Buffalo Bulls in double figures.”

Pitt was unable to contain Buffalo’s Wednesday night. Instead, it turned into 6-foot-8 sophomore forward Nick Perkins, another ugly nail-biter for the Panthers.

After Pitt jumped out to a 26-point who led all players with 23 points and lead, the Bulls (4-5) completely outplayed eight rebounds, but just barely scraped out the Panthers over the second half of the the win.

“He went to work in the lane. He’s a game and closed the gap to one. Still, Pitt (7-2) held on for an 84-79 win at the Pe- big, strong, physical guy in there,” Stallings tersen Events Center. Senior forward Mi- said about Perkins. “I liked him on film, chael Young and sophomore guard Camer- but I thought he was exceptional tonight.”

Young got the game started with a on Johnson led the Panthers with 17 points apiece while senior point guard Jamel Ar- 3-pointer from the top of the key, then the Panthers immediately went into a fulltis added 16.

See Basketball on page 10 “I thought for about 15 minutes there

Sports Editor

Chris Jones (12) was one of six Panthers to score in double figures Wednesday in Pitt’s 84-79 win over Buffalo. Meghan Sunners SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

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December 8, 2016

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Northwestern, pg. 9

Basketball, pg. 9

Look for Thorson and the Wildcats to do just that if Jackson has no room to run.

Out of the blue Thorson and Jackson make for a great duo, but it’s Thorson’s main receiving target that the Panthers should really be worried about.

Wildcats wide receiver Austin Carr emerged from relative obscurity before the season and turned into one of college football’s biggest breakout stars in 2016. Entering the year, Carr had only 23 catches for 402 yards and two touchdowns in his college career.

The 6-foot-1, 200-pound senior then exploded for 84 catches, 1,196 yards and 12 touchdowns in his final season. Carr’s performance made him one of three finalists for the Biletnikoff Award, given annually to the best wide receiver in college football.

That means that after all the freakishly athletic, NFL-ready wide receivers that have already tormented Pitt this year — Oklahoma State’s James Washington and Chris Lacy, North Carolina’s Ryan Switzer, Clemson’s Mike Williams and Syracuse’s Amba Etta-Tawo, to name a few — Carr has been better than all of them.

That’s a scary proposition for the Panthers’ defense, and they will need to use every minute of the extra time given to prepare for Carr leading up to the bowl game.

court press on defense, forcing Buffalo to burn an early timeout.

After failing to score more than five points in each of the last six games, senior forward Sheldon Jeter got involved in the Panthers’ offense early, contributing a dunk and a layup to extend Pitt’s lead to 12-4. A 3-pointer by Artis and a 3-point play from senior guard Chris Jones capped a 15-0 run and ballooned the Panthers’ lead to 16 points at 20-4.

After a bucket by Buffalo momentarily stopped the rout, Pitt junior forward Ryan Luther went on a 7-0 run of his own by way of a layup, two free throws and a 3-pointer. Another three from Johnson pushed the Panthers’ lead to 30-7 midway through the half.

The Bulls then started to make shots, but they couldn’t stop Pitt from making them on the other end. A 7-0 Buffalo run cut the deficit to 17, but the Panthers quickly responded with a 6-0 run to make it 39-16.

“I think we sped them up in the press in the first 15 minutes. We were able to get them out of sorts,” Johnson said. “They weren’t really getting into anything, we kind of kept them out of the paint a little

bit more, and when they got there, we collapsed on them pretty well.”

Luther sunk four more free throws to give him a season-high 11 points in the game, putting him in double figures for the first time all season and giving Pitt its largest lead at 47-21.

But the Bulls would respond, breaking off a 16-2 run late in the half to narrow the gap to just 12 at the break.

Buffalo scored on the opening possession of the second half to make it a 10-point game at 49-39, but the Panthers rediscovered their offense with a jumper

by Jeter and a couple of layups from Jones and Artis.

Young then missed an easy layup in the paint, and a pair of baskets from Perkins made it 56-43 Pitt.

Johnson converted on his second 3-point play to push the Panthers’ lead back to 16, but Buffalo continued to chip away. A 15-4 run made it a five-point game at 63-58 with just over 11 minutes to play.

Pitt continued to miss easy shots in the lane and the Bulls just kept making theirs’, keeping the game in single digits.

Perkins continued to dominate inside for Buffalo, and the Bulls eventually closed to within one at 69-68 with 6:30 to play.

But they couldn’t quite get even, and the Panthers squeaked by for an 84-79 win.

“I think we just got a little bit complacent,” Jeter said. “Then offensively, rather than moving, we got a little stagnant. Also defensively we stopped having the same intensity, and it just hurt us, honestly.”

Pitt will next take on the Penn State Nittany Lions in the Never Forget Tribute Classic at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, on Saturday, Dec. 10.

Tipoff is at 2:30 p.m.

“We just don’t want to let the school down twice,” Jeter said, likely referring to the Panthers’ City Game loss to Duquesne.

“Two wins over Penn State in one year, football and basketball, that would be a good thing, in my opinion.”

The Pitt News SuDoku 12/8/16 courtesy of dailysudoku.com

pittnews.com

December 8, 2016

10

I N D E X

Rentals & Sublet

Employment

• NORTH OAKLAND • SOUTH OAKLAND • SHADYSIDE • SQUIRREL HILL • SOUTHSIDE • NORTHSIDE • BLOOMFIELD • ROOMMATES • OTHER

• CHILDCARE • FOOD SERVICES • UNIVERSITY • INTERNSHIPS • RESEARCH • VOLUNTEERING • OTHER

**AUGUST 2017: Furnished Studio, 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 Bedroom Apts. No pets.

Non-smokers preferred. 412-621-0457 1-2-3-4-5 Bedroom Houses & Apartments. 376 Meyran, 343 McKee, & Atwood, St. James, Bates St. $1,095-$2,000. Call 412-969-2790.

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8 bedroom apartments and houses available in May and August 2017. Nice, clean, free laundry, includes exterior maintenance, new appliances, spacious, located on Meyran, Bates, Oakland, Semple, Wellsford, Dawson, Juliet. 412-414-9629.

1-6 Bdr Apt./Houses.

Updated kitchen, air conditioning, laundry. Some w/ parking.Summer 2017.

412-445-6117.

1,2,3,4,6 BR. Available August 2017.

Bigelow Boulevard, Truro Place, Craig, and Neville Street.

Call 412-287-5712.

2-3-4 bedroom houses. Available now or January 1st.

At corner of Parkview and the Boulevard. Free laundry. Central air. Really nice.

412-414-9629.

pittnews.com

Classifieds

For Sale

Services

Announcements

• AUTO • BIKES • BOOKS • MERCHANDISE • FURNITURE • REAL ESTATE • PETS

• EDUCATIONAL • TRAVEL • HEALTH • PARKING • INSURANCE

• ADOPTION • EVENTS • LOST AND FOUND • STUDENT GROUPS • WANTED • OTHER

2, 3, 4 and 5 bedroom houses available ASAP. Call 412-385-3273.

2,3,5 BR houses.

Available now.

Bouquet, Atwood, & Dawson. Please call 412-287-5712.

3247 Juliet St. 2 BR. On street parking. $1100 plus gas & electric.

3722 Parkview Ave. 3 BR. Washer, dryer. $1800 + gas and electric.

3316 Juliet St. 4 BR. Washer, dryer. 2 full baths. $2140 + gas and electric.

421 Semple St. 2 BR. $1120 per month plus gas and electric.

3227 Hardie Way. 2 BR. Plus gas & electric. $890 per month.

Laundry on site.

412-596-8732

3408 Parkview Avenue 412-455-5600 CALL NOW Close to Campus!

Studios, 1,2,3 BRS Avail May- Aug Pet Friendly & Parking 430 Atwood Street 412-455-5600 CALL NOW 1BR $675 & 2BR $895 4 Blocks from Campus Avail May-Aug. Pet Friendly!

4 bedroom house near Playhouse & Mcgee Hospital. Spacious, equipped kitchen w/ dishwasher. Two large bedrooms. Freedom of expression encouraged! You can paint mural, engineering technology improvements. Material costs deducted from rent. $1800/mo+ utilities available immidiately. Contact Ron at 412-983-0279.

5,6,7 bedroom houses available. Located on Niagra, Chesterfield, Lawn, and Ophelia.

Contact Brent 412-680-6209.

August 2017 rental.

3 BR/1 BA apartment. 2 off-street parking spaces included. Wall-wall carpeting. Kitchen w/dishwasher. Washer/Dryer.$1700/month+ utilities.

724-934-0653.

August 2017 rental.

4 BR+TV room/ 2 BA apartment.Wallto-wall carpeting.

Kitchen w/dishwasher. Washer/Dryer. $2200/month+ utilities. 724-934-0653.

John CR Kelly Realty has studio, 1, and 2 bedroom apartments available for rent for Fall 2017. Starting from $635-$795. Located on Meyran, Pier, Ward. Call 412-683-7300 to make an appointment today!

House for rent.

Available Feb. 2017.

Ideal for students. 34 bedrooms, 1.5 baths, large eat-in kitchen, front and back porches, large basement/storage.

W/D included. Near universities/hospitals. On Pitt and PAT buslines. 1 block from minimart. Comfortable home. $1500+.

412-337-3151.

Large property management company needs person to create professional floor plans for rental units. Paid by job.

Work around your schedule. Email interest to leasing@lobosmanagement.com.

Limited 4,5,6 bedroom apartments & townhomes located in South Oakland.

Larger Groups may want to explore renting 2 or 3 smaller apartments located in the same building.

Call John C.R. Kelly Realty 412-683-7300 for Fall 2017 Newly renovated apartments for rent.

2,3,4 bedrooms available for August/September 2017.

Atwood, McKee, Dawson, and Bates.

R A T E S

Insertions

1X

2X

3X

1-15 Words

$6.30

$11.90

$17.30

$22.00

16-30 Words

$7.50

$14.20

$20.00

$25.00

(Each Additional Word: $0.10)

Deadline: Two business days prior by 3pm

Numerous 2 & 3 bedroom apartments located on Meyran, Halket, Fifth, Ward, and Bates. Starting from $995-$1775.

Available August 2017. Call John CR Kelly Realty.

412-683-7300.

Studio, 1 Bedroom & 2 bedroom. 216 Coltart. Off Street Parking. Available Aug. 2017. Free heat.

Greve RealEstate.

412-261-4620.

AVAILABLE NOW –

SHADYSIDE/FRIENDSHIP

$200 MOVE IN SPECIAL!

Holden St. 2BR –

Roof Deck! $1450

|

AVAILABLE NOW – SQUIRREL HILL LUXURY RENOVATIONS! MODERN! GRANITE! SS APPLIANCES! ALL NEW! Eldridge St. – 1Br $895 Shady Ave –2BR $1295 or $1650 Murray Ave – 3BR $1695 4BR $1750 All Apartments are Pet Friendly Call 412-455-5600 for a showing 3,4,5 BR Sarah St & Wrights Way. Close to Pitt. Call 412-287-5712. Avail Aug 2017.

1-6 bedroom. All newly renovated, airconditioning, dishwasher, washer/dryer, and parking. Available Summer 2017.

412-915-0856.

Maryland 3Br -

$1545 New SS Appliances!

South Fairmount 1BR Private Entrance – $795

All Apartments are Pet Friendly!

Call 412-455-5600 for a showing

Phlebotomy Training Centerwww. justphlebotomy.org 2 evening classes weekly, 5 weeks + excellent Clinicals.

Call 412-521-7334.

4X

5X

6X

Additional

$27.00

$30.20

$5.00

$29.10

$32.30

$5.40

Email: advertising@pittnews.com

82 year old man in North Oakland one block from Pitt needing help with personal care and assisting with therapy at home and daily pool exercise. Great opportunity for health and rehabilitation science students. Part-time/fulltime. Insurance not necessary. Free live in housing option. $10-$12/hour. Contact Mike 412-901-4307 or felafelman@gmail. com.

OFFICE INTERN Shadyside Management Company seeks person w/ min 3 yrs. college, for upcoming spring semester, to interview & process rental applicants, do internet postings & help staff our action-central office. Part time or full time OK starting on January 2; full time in summer. $12/hour.

Perfect job for continuing soon-to-be seniors, graduating seniors set to enter grad school, returning grad students, and first-year law students.

Mozart Management.

412.682.7003. thane@mozartrents.com.

|

Phone: 412.648.7978

South Fayette Twp. School District.

Substitute Teacher

Positions.

Substitute

Paraeducator Positions.

Positions avail-

able for all grade levels and areas of content.

Complete job descriptions are available at:

www.southfayette.org South Fayette Twp. School District

3680 Old Oakdale

Road McDonald, PA 15057 EOE.

Help Wanted,

COOKS, SERVERS & BARTENDERS!

Part-time/Full-time.

Experience not necessary but preferred-

will train. Stop in and apply today, located

in the Shadyside Business District,

412-621-1188. 5431 Walnut Street.

Please call Mike at 412-849-8694 for more information & for viewing.

December 8, 2016

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